Yes, the solution can be worse than the problem

Stress exposure, and post-traumatic stress disorder, are horrible problems. I've seen them wreak havoc on peace of mind, careers, and relationships. I think sometimes, being on the outside looking at a friend, loved one, or patient going through something we'll never completely understand because we simply did not live through it, creates anxiety because we have no productive outlet for the compassion and healing we want to provide.

As much as the object of our concern may be struggling, and as hard as we may want to be the source of relief for their pain, we need to always be careful that the help we provide is not being administered on behalf of our own pain, and not the person who is truly suffering.

For example, consider this recent study, that looked at the consequences of administering alprazolam (Xanax), a benzodiazepene anxiolytic, to a stress-exposed individual.

Animals exposed to stress were then given alprazolam on two different schedules; one group was medicated for 3 days starting 1 hour after the stress, while the other group received the medication for 3 days starting a week later. Each group was tested for symptoms of PTSD 30 days after the initial trauma.

Those animals who were immediately medicated experienced immediate relief, with now observable problems at day 30. Sounds good, except that when the rats were exposed to the same trauma a second time, they had a greater "freezing response" (something that traumatized animals and people do in stressful situations).

Early exposure also disrupted normal stress hormone function both during and outside of the second stress exposure.

So while we might feel better giving someone medicine to help them feel better, we may actually be the only ones who feel better. In the long run, the person may suffer more and longer than if we'd let them process the trauma in the way the body is programmed to naturally do, providing a safe, supportive place to heal and only introducing chemical intervention if it is deemed absolutely necessary.

Matar MA, Zohar J, Kaplan Z, Cohen H. Alprazolam treatment immediately after stress exposure interferes with the normal HPA-stress response and increases vulnerability to subsequent stress in an animal model of PTSD. Eur Neuropsychopharmacol. 2009 Jan 22. [Epub ahead of print]

I'd like to introduce you to some of my other writing!

I've been a little quiet here, haven't I? Here in Phoenix we had a wacky weather week, starting out in the triple digits and then plummeting to the point where I had to turn my heat on a couple of mornings. Knowing just what kind of scorching rebound is just around the corner, and knowing I'll be hiding out inside, working to avoid the heat, I decided to drop the work for a few days, get some great long runs in on those wonderfully cool mornings, and hole up with a few reads that had absolutely nothing to do with neurons, medications, or medical diagnoses. If you're looking for a novel that will start you out laughing, then catch you completely by surprise with the premise that suddenly shows up mid-book, check out Life of Pi. I sat down with my morning coffee today and I only looked up because one of my cats jumped on the sofa to remind me I'd forgotten her lunchtime treat. Great way to spend a lazy Sunday!

Anyway...

...I have also been non-blogging because I've been updating some of my consumer booklets. I thought I'd share a couple of sample pages from the three most popular here in case any of you are interested.

Polycystic Ovary Syndrome
I do most of my work with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), the #1 cause of infertility in the US, which is related to several mental health issues and often exacerbated with the administration of psychiatric medications. Here is a sample from the 30 page booklet:

















Depression
I decided to write this booklet because most information I found about depression was, well....depressing! Most of it focused on external reasons for being depressed, and very little educated about hormones, neurons, and the disease process that depression truly is. I wanted to empower people with depression to view their diagnosis as something as neutral to discuss as high blood pressure, not something to be embarrassed about. I also wanted to share a lot of ideas for preventing or recovering from depression that did not involve prescription medications.

These .jpg files are coming out a little small, but if you copy them and enlarge them you can hopefully see them.
















Post-traumatic Stress Disorder

This booklet came about after 9/11. I felt very helpless sitting all the way out here in Phoenix when one college classmate had to make her way down 75 flights of stairs to safety, while another was conducting a meeting in the Pentagon when the building was hit. This was initially part of my own grief process, but it's turned out to be useful to people with PTSD from a number of different causes.

An interesting note about the booklet: I originally wanted to use clip arts depicting different cultures from all around the world as a way to communicate togetherness during a crisis. However, I could not find a single clip art of a Muslim in traditional dress participating in a modern day activity. I figured that using the art that I found would only make things worse...so I came up with "Plan B", which was to engage my nephews in the illustration work. I think it was meant to be illustrated by them all along, because the most frequent comment I get about the book is that the children's art really softens the message and makes it a lot easier to read about something that is very hard to experience, let alone discuss.

What we would do without the children in our world!

Here is a sample page:


This last one is my absolute favorite, but it's a little difficult to market. I never feel it's appropriate to try to sell something to a person who's in pain...so I have this one on my website in the hopes that friends and loved ones will find it.
If you know people who you think might benefit, perhaps you can let them know about it.

All of these items can be ordered in my bookstore, at
http://yhst-34497545168533.stores.yahoo.net/consumer-publications.html

I hope you all are enjoying your holiday and doing as much socializing and non-work as I am...I need to finish up my novel tomorrow, and then it's back to reading and writing about research.

See you later in the week!